No volume control?

[kneighbour]

I have installed gbpvr on a Windows XP machine. I have a wireless keyboard (a Shintaro) that otherwise works perfectly.

My problem is that the volume control on the keyboard does not drive the volume on the PC.

If I set gbpvr to control Master Volume (in the Misc2 screen), when I use the volume controls on the keyboard, the volume icon comes up on the screen - and it LOOKS like I am changing the volume, but nothing happens. ie the keyboard moves the small volume bar on the screen up and down perfectly - it is just that the volume not does change.

So it looks like the keyboard is talking to gbpvr just fine - it seems that gbpvr is not controlling the volume.

I have changed the setting on Misc2 to the other one (I forget the name, but the non Master Volume one). This does something in that the keybaord no longer brings up the volume bars - so it is worse.

Any ideas?

[dennit]

I have installed gbpvr on a Windows XP machine. I have a wireless keyboard (a Shintaro) that otherwise works perfectly.

My problem is that the volume control on the keyboard does not drive the volume on the PC.

If I set gbpvr to control Master Volume (in the Misc2 screen), when I use the volume controls on the keyboard, the volume icon comes up on the screen - and it LOOKS like I am changing the volume, but nothing happens. ie the keyboard moves the small volume bar on the screen up and down perfectly - it is just that the volume not does change.

So it looks like the keyboard is talking to gbpvr just fine - it seems that gbpvr is not controlling the volume.

I have changed the setting on Misc2 to the other one (I forget the name, but the non Master Volume one). This does something in that the keybaord no longer brings up the volume bars - so it is worse.

Any ideas?

Start by finding out if the Windows volume control in your tray will control volume with its sliders directly and whether the keyboard moves that slider. It's not likely to be a GBPVR problem. What type of audio output do you use - headset - 5.1 speakers - SPDIF - DTS Connect over SPDIF? Some more info on how you are set up and what does or does not work would help.

[kneighbour]

Start by finding out if the Windows volume control in your tray will control volume with its sliders directly and whether the keyboard moves that slider. It's not likely to be a GBPVR problem. What type of audio output do you use - headset - 5.1 speakers - SPDIF - DTS Connect over SPDIF? Some more info on how you are set up and what does or does not work would help.

When I bring up the Windows volume control - the keyboard volume control works it just fine. And every other system volume control I can find (ie in Control Panel/Sound, etc) seems to be operated ok with the keyboard volume controls.

I use SPDIF output - with a home theatre system (5.1 digital audio).

As I said - when I use the keyboard controls to change the volume - the small volume control image comes up in gbpvr - and it controls that icon just fine. So gbpvr senses that the keyboard is trying to change the volume (ie it shows the volume bar icon), and it adjusts the volume bar as well.

It is what gbpvr is doing to control the volume that does not seem to be working. Mind you, there might be a another step in the middle (between gbpvr and the system volume) that is not working.

I have a DH-101 Thermaltake case with VFD front panel. That volume control does not affect the system volume either, so there might be some common cause, although that does not seem likely.

[dennit]

When I bring up the Windows volume control - the keyboard volume control works it just fine. And every other system volume control I can find (ie in Control Panel/Sound, etc) seems to be operated ok with the keyboard volume controls.

I use SPDIF output - with a home theatre system (5.1 digital audio).

You're saying that moving the Windows volume control slider manually changes the volume sent over SPDIF to your external home theatre system (5.1 digital audio)?

This is odd. I'm no expert, but I use SPDIF to go to an external home theatre system (5.1 digital audio) too, and volume has never worked for me when set up this way. My understanding is that SPDIF is designed to carry stereo. If you let it carry stereo, you get volume control. You can send 5.1 over SPDIF, but you need DTS Connect or something similar to encode the signal and have your external home theatre decode the DTS. When you set it up that way, you have to keep Windows out of the loop, and that means you keep the volume control out of the loop.

As I said - when I use the keyboard controls to change the volume - the small volume control image comes up in gbpvr - and it controls that icon just fine. So gbpvr senses that the keyboard is trying to change the volume (ie it shows the volume bar icon), and it adjusts the volume bar as well.

I know the volume bar icon appears, and I assume the slider in Windows volume control moves (check this) but I was asking if moving the slider manually actually changes your external volume when you are sending 5.1 to the external amp. My volume bar also moves and I also get no volume control - that's what I expect. It's not GBPVR's fault, it's the DTS Connect setup that does this. When I set up for SPDIF stereo, I get volume control.

It is what gbpvr is doing to control the volume that does not seem to be working. Mind you, there might be a another step in the middle (between gbpvr and the system volume) that is not working.

I'm not convinced, until you can confirm that manually telling Windows to change volume 5.1 with the slider actually works. It never has for me. To get volume control, I've always had to give up 5.1, which I'm not willing to do, so I just use my remote to directly control the external amp.

I have a DH-101 Thermaltake case with VFD front panel. That volume control does not affect the system volume either, so there might be some common cause, although that does not seem likely.

Does it move the Windows slider, and does moving that slider control volume? From what you've posted, it looks like it's working right, at least to me. Do you have a light on your external amp telling you that SPDIF is coming in DTS encoded (or a similar 5.1 encoding)?

[kneighbour]

I know the volume bar icon appears, and I assume the slider in Windows volume control moves (check this) but I was asking if moving the slider manually actually changes your external volume when you are sending 5.1 to the external amp. My volume bar also moves and I also get no volume control - that's what I expect. It's not GBPVR's fault, it's the DTS Connect setup that does this. When I set up for SPDIF stereo, I get volume control.

Ok - now we are getting somewhere! I did not actually have anything playing when I did these tests. My keyboard simply moved the volume bar.

But what you say makes perfect sense - and is probably why the front panel controls have the same effect. I use SPDIF with 5.1.

I never use 5.1 really, so I will change it back to stereo and hopefully that will fix the problem. Many thanks for the pointers.

[dennit]

Many thanks for the pointers.

You're welcome - glad I could help.